The ballistic properties of the propellant used in shoulder-fired in-tube burning weapons, must be very reliable for the protection of the gunner.
Propellants burning either faster or slower than that specified for the missile can be hazardous. Slow burning propellants can result in after launch tube burning or in the case of very fast burning, rupture of the missile or launch tube. Therefore, quality assurance procedures and tests to assure the missile components reliability and performance are especially important in this type of missile system.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide apparatus to determine rapidly the burning rate of uncured propellant so that adjustments may be made in the propellant composition before the propellant is loaded into a missile motor.